The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 167.8 million to USD 420.758 billion in the week to March 2 on an increase in core currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India said today.
In the previous reporting week, the reserves had declined by USD 1.13 billion to USD 420.591 billion. The reserves had touched a life-time high of USD 421.914 billion on February 9.
It had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8 last year, but has been fluctuating since then. In the week to March 2, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by USD 177.2 million to USD 395.642 billion, the apex bank said.
Expressed in the US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
The value of gold reserves increased by USD 8.1 million to USD 21.522 billion, the central bank said.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund declined by USD 7.4 million to USD 1.529 billion. The country’s reserve position with IMF also declined by USD 10.1 million to USD 2.064 billion, the RBI said.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.96 billion to $421.72 billion on February 16, compared to the previous week. Foreign currency assets (FCAs), which form a key component of reserves, rose by $1.925 billion from the previous week to $396.572 billion.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.96 billion to $421.72 billion on February 16, compared to the previous week.
Foreign currency assets (FCAs), which form a key component of reserves, rose by $1.925 billion from the previous week to $396.572 billion.
FCAs are maintained in major currencies like US dollar, euro, pound sterling and Japanese yen.
Movement in the FCAs occur mainly on account of purchase and sale of foreign exchange by the RBI, income arising out of the deployment of foreign exchange reserves, external aid receipts of the government and revaluation of assets.
Gold reserves remained stable at $21.514 billion.
Special drawing rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund rose by $13 million from the previous week to $1.546 billion.
SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF and allocated to its members in proportion of their quota at the IMF.
The Reserve Position in the IMF rose by $21.7 million to $2.087 billion.
India’s foreign exchange reserves swelled by USD 4.12 billion to a new high of USD 421.914 billion on a healthy increase in the core currency assets and uptick in the gold stock, the Reserve Bank said today.
The total reserves had risen by USD 3 billion to USD 417.89 billion in the previous reporting week.
The reserves had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8, 2017 but have been fluctuating since then.
However, there has been a continuous surge since the start of this year for the fifth straight week. In reporting week to February 2, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by USD 3.025 billion to USD 396.769 billion, the RBI said.
Expressed in US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
The value of gold reserves rose USD 1.092 billion to USD 21.514 billion during the week, the central bank said.
The country’s special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by USD 3.2 million to USD 1.547 billion, while the country’s reserve position with the Fund jumped by USD 4.3 million to USD 2.084 billion during the reporting week, the central bank said.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 1.2 billion to touch USD 401.942 billion in the week to December 1.
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 1.2 billion to touch USD 401.942 billion in the week to December 1, according to the RBI data.
The surge in reserves was aided by an increase in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves.
The reserves once again crossed USD 400 billion mark in the previous week, after they rose by USD 1.208 billion to USD 400.741 billion.
The foreign currency reserves increased by USD 1.151 billion to USD 377.456 billion for the reporting week, the RBI said today.
Expressed in the US dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non- US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
After remaining stable for many months, gold reserves also rose by USD 36.5 million to USD 20.703 billion.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by USD 4.9 million to USD 1.502 billion.
The country’s reserve position with the Fund also rose by USD 7.4 million to USD 2.280 billion, the Reserve Bank of India said.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $240.40 million as on November 17 to $399.533 billion, data from the RBI shows. Foreign currency assets, which form a key component of reserves, rose by $220.40 million from the previous week to $375.096 billion.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $240.40 million as on November 17 to $399.533 billion, data from the RBI shows.
Foreign currency assets, which form a key component of reserves, rose by $220.40 million from the previous week to $375.096 billion.
FCAs are maintained in major currencies like US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Japanese yen etc.
Movement in the FCA occur mainly on account of purchase and sale of foreign exchange by the RBI, income arising out of the deployment of foreign exchange reserves, external aid receipts of the government and revaluation of assets.
Gold reserves remained stable at $20.66 billion.
Special drawing rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund rose by $7.9 million from the previous week to $1.497 billion.
SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF and allocated to its members in proportion of their quota at the IMF.
The Reserve Position in the IMF rose by $12.1 million to $2.273 billion.
The reserves are hitting the psychological threshold also because benign current account deficits over the last few quarters had allowed RBI to use less of the reserves to finance it.
India’s foreign exchange reserves have climbed tantalizingly close to the $400-billion mark on September 1 on the back of strong foreign portfolio investments into the Indian market, especially the debt segment
The reserves are hitting the psychological threshold also because benign current account deficits over the last few quarters had allowed RBI to use less of the reserves to finance it.
To be sure, the latest $100 billion addition to the reserves has taken close to 10s years. The $300 billion mark was reached in February 2008, while the previous $100 billion was accumulated in a span of just eleven months.
While the rupee remains strong against the dollar at levels of 64 having appreciated 6% so far in 2017, few would have anticipated this strength, especially after the free fall of the currency in mid-2013 when it slipped all the way to 68.85 against the greenback (the forex reserves had plunged by more than $17 billion during this period).
The other critical period for the reserves and currency was in 2008, during the financial crisis when the currency lost almost 25% of its value between May and November. In this period, the reserves fell by a little over $70 billion to $245.8 billion.
Currently, the reserves take care of approximately 12 months of imports; in the past the reserves have typically covered seven to eight months of imports. Interestingly, India has seen the third-highest reserves accretion globally after Switzerland and China, so far in 2017.
According to Indranil Sengupta, chief economist at Bank of India Merrill Lynch, RBI has been intervening fairly aggressively in the forex market and might continue to do so if the dollar weakens but perhaps less so if the greenback was to strengthen.
After a brief overnight pause, the rupee was again caught in a downward spiral and slipped by 12 paise to 64.12 against the US dollar on Thursday on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers amid persistent foreign capital outflows. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 827 crore on the day.
Meanwhile, India’s CAD, which stood at 0.7% in the fourth quarter of last fiscal is expected to widen sharply to 3% in Q1FY18 due to a sharp deterioration in the merchandise trade deficit. According to Sonal Varma, chief economist at Nomura, the low commodity prices in the last two years have resulted in the CAD narrowing to about 1% of GDP. “With commodity prices marginally higher and a cyclical recovery expected in coming quarters, we expect the current account deficit to widen to a steady state of around 1.5-2.0% of GDP (for FY18),” Varma said.
Currently, as the central bank continues to shore up the reserves, it appears to be depending more on forward purchases than the spot market. This is due to the abundant liquidity in the system which prevents excessive action in the spot market.
MV Srinivasan, vice-president, Mecklai Financial Services believes the RBI is attempting to prevent any appreciation of the rupee beyond 63.80 levels. “The central bank is trying to rein in the excess liquidity in the system through OMO sales and dollar purchases in the spot will counter these measures,” he says.
Srinivasan believes that if the US Federal Reserve begins to reduce its balance sheet size, there could be forex outflows following which the RBI might intervene to stabilise the markets. Net portfolio inflows to the India’s bond and stock markets have been to the tune of $26.7 billion so far in 2017.
In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 1.148 billion to USD 394.55 billion.
The forex reserves surged by a massive USD 3.572 billion to touch a record high of USD 398.122 billion for the week ended September 1, on account of rise in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed on Friday.
In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 1.148 billion to USD 394.55 billion.
Last month, American brokerage Morgan Stanley had forecast that the reserves might touch the USD 400 billion mark in the week to September 8. And if the rise in the kitty continues with the same speed, it may cross that magic numbers next week.
The foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, increased by USD 2.808 billion to USD 373.641 billion for the reporting week, according to the data.
Expressed in US dollar terms, FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US dollar currencies, such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
After remaining unchanged for many weeks, gold reserves also rose by USD 748.3 million to USD 20.691 billion.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by USD 6.5 million to USD 1.506 billion, the apex bank said.
The country’s reserve position with the IMF also increased by USD 9.8 million to USD 2.283 billion, it said.
In the previous reporting week, the reserves had declined by USD 1.13 billion to USD 420.591 billion. The reserves had touched a life-time high of USD 421.914 billion on February 9.
